


Philosophy and Poetry

by antiagonally



Category: Persona 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25866319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antiagonally/pseuds/antiagonally
Kudos: 7





	Philosophy and Poetry

"Why?! Why are you trying so hard to save me?!"

"Every life is worth something. Such an idealistic thing to say, right? But I don't care whether there's actually someone to value each person in the world. I'm only worried about you. Regardless of anything else, your life is worth something to me."

Eyes like pools of blood, filling with saltwater. Just as the blood-spattered ship will soon sink beneath the cognitive sea.

"...Your life is worth something too. To me, but not just me... That's why, if one of us has to die here..."

"Akechi!"

_It was enough to know that I mattered to even one person._

* * *

The sky is grey and overcast, letting droplets fall slowly and endlessly to the ground. Like his own eyes.

"You don't have to suffer like this. Everyone deserves to be happy."

"We don't all get what we deserve."

"I can give you happiness though."

A puddle flickers with the image of a smiling prince of justice. A perfect world, a perfect lie.

"Happiness without effort is worth nothing, a mere illusion of real joy. The struggle is part of the package."

"But the struggle causes so much unnecessary pain. Isn't it better to avoid that?"

A memory of stripes the color of a bruised soul, and a dark mask of rage hiding even darker fear.

"Struggle is how we grow, Dr. Maruki. Humans are flawed, their desires always conflicting with each other. But a raft goes nowhere on a ocean with no waves or current. The progress of mankind would fall stagnant in a world without adversity and ambition."

And so, like the folk tale of the lost axe, he chooses. Not the shining golden lie, not the tarnished silver imitation. The only option for him is the broken simple tool. A reality so precious despite, or perhaps because of, its harsh truth.

In his mind's eye, the figures of a sincere detective and a raging assassin merge together into a balanced whole. Justice.

_It was enough. Don't let the past keep you from the future._


End file.
